Sotheby’s Online Sale Exceeds Expectations

RAPAPORT... Sotheby’s garnered $739,375 from its Jewels Online sale, beating its high estimate of $671,600 for the auction.

“In this unprecedented moment, collectors were determined to compete for beautiful jewels in Wednesday’s sale, which earned our best sell-through rate to date for any online jewelry auction,” Kendall Reed, Sotheby’s head of online jewels, said last week.

Some 97% of the items on offer were sold, with half of those selling above their high estimates, the company noted.

A pair of ruby earrings by Michele della Valle was the top-selling item, fetching $25,000, more than triple its high presale estimate of $7,000. Signed pieces from American jewelers also performed well, with 100% of the items on offer finding buyers.

Those included a group of 15 jewels by Tiffany & Co. that sold for $65,000, led by a peridot necklace designed by Paloma Picasso. That piece fetched $12,500, more than six times its high valuation of $2,000. Sotheby’s brought in $112,000 for 11 jewels by David Webb, including a gold and enamel cuff-bracelet that garnered $21,250 against its presale high valuation of $8,000. The four Verdura pieces at the auction also sold out, earning $42,500 in total. A pair of citrine and rhodolite garnet Byzantine earclips with a high estimate of $7,000 realized $13,750.

Meanwhile, a pair of pear-shaped heliodor and diamond earrings by Tiffany fetched $5,250 after a bidding war involving 16 prospective purchasers. The set, which weighed approximately 11 carats, had a presale high value of $5,000.

Participants in the sale were from 32 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Some 22% of those who made purchases were new Sotheby’s buyers, while each lot had an average of six bidders, the auction house added.